Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator having a refrigerator body including a first cooling chamber and a second cooling chamber, a barrier wall located between the first cooling chamber and the second cooling chamber, an evaporator configured to provide cooling air, a first cooling fan configured to provide cooling air of the evaporator to the first cooling chamber, and a second cooling fan configured to provide cooling air of the evaporator to the second cooling chamber is provided. A method of providing cooling air flow in a refrigerator is also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to Korean Application No.10-2009-0064667, filed on Jul. 15, 2009, which is herein expresslyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and, more particularly,to a refrigerator having an expanded internal space and is capable ofindependently or simultaneously cooling a plurality of cooling chamberswith a single evaporator.

2. Description of Related Art

A refrigerator is a device for refrigerating or freezing food items tokeep them fresh. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator main bodyincluding a plurality of cooling chambers, doors for opening and closingeach cooling chamber, and a refrigerating cycle mechanism for providingcooling air (i.e., cool air, cold air, etc.) to the cooling chambers.

The refrigerating cycle mechanism is configured as a vapor compressiontype refrigerating cycle device generally including a compressor forcompressing a refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant byreleasing heat of the refrigerant, an expansion device fordepressurizing and expanding the refrigerant, and an evaporator forallowing the refrigerant to absorb ambient latent heat so as to beevaporated.

In general, a cooling air circulation flow path is formed on a rear wallof each cooling chamber to allow cooling air to be circulated. Anevaporator may be provided in the cooling air circulation flow path toallow air to be cooled while passing through the evaporator. Inaddition, a cooling air supply flow path may be formed within thecooling chamber to allow cooling air, which has passed through theevaporator, to be supplied to each cooling chamber.

In the related art refrigerator, because the evaporator, which has alower temperature than that of the cooling air of the cooling chamber,is disposed on the rear wall of the cooling chamber, a loss of coolingair through the rear wall may occur. Thus, in consideration of this, thethickness of the rear wall may be increased to limit this loss.

In addition, the related art refrigerator has a single cooling fandisposed at one side of the single evaporator. When a cooling chamberpositioned far from the evaporator and the cooling fan is cooled, thesame evaporator and cooling fan are operated. As a result, when thecooling air is transferred to the corresponding cooling chamber, a lossof cooling air is possibly generated. In addition, the configuration ofthe cooling air flow path is complicated and lengthened in order tosupply cooling air of the cooling chamber positioned far from theevaporator. Consequently, the flow resistance of the cooling air isincreased making it difficult to quickly resolve a temperature deviationand lengthen an operation time.

In addition, in the related art refrigerator, because the plurality ofcooling chambers are cooled with the single evaporator, even if one ofthe cooling chambers already satisfies a temperature condition, theoperation is continuously performed to satisfy a temperature conditionfor another cooling chamber, resulting in that the cooling chamberalready satisfying the temperature condition is overcooled.

Meanwhile, in some related art refrigerators, an evaporator is disposedin each cooling chamber in order to independently cool the individualcooling chamber. However, also, in this case, each evaporator isdisposed to be close to the rear wall of the individual cooling chamber,thereby requiring that the thickness of the rear wall of the individualcooling chambers be increased to restrain a leakage of cold energy ofcooling air through the rear wall of each cooling chamber. Because ofthese arrangements, the storage space of each the individual coolingchambers are reduced.

In addition, when the evaporator is disposed in the individual coolingchamber, the flow path of the refrigerant is lengthened. Not only doesthis increase the flow resistance of the refrigerant but also generatesincreased pressure of the refrigerant causing a heat loss due to thelonger pipes, thereby degrading the operation efficiency.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, in order to address the above matters, the various featuresdescribed herein have been conceived.

An aspect of the present invention provides a refrigerator in which aninternal usage space is increased without increasing the size of theexternal appearance.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a refrigerator capableof independently or simultaneously cooling each cooling chamber with asingle evaporator and increasing an internal usage space withoutincreasing the size of the external appearance.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigeratorcapable of varying a cooling capacity of an evaporator according towhich cooling chamber the cooling air is supplied.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided arefrigerator having a refrigerator body including a first coolingchamber and a second cooling chamber, a barrier wall located between thefirst cooling chamber and the second cooling chamber, an evaporatorconfigured to provide cooling air, a first cooling fan configured toprovide cooling air of the evaporator to the first cooling chamber, anda second cooling fan configured to provide cooling air of the evaporatorto the second cooling chamber.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for providing cooling air flow in a refrigeration havingrefrigerator having a body defining a refrigerating chamber and afreezing chamber, an evaporator configured to provide cooling air, afirst fan configured to provide cooling air of the evaporator to therefrigerating chamber, and a second fan configured to provide coolingair of the evaporator to the freezing chamber, a first refrigerant flowpath to provide refrigerant to the evaporator, and a second refrigerantflow path to provide refrigerant to the evaporator. The method includesproviding cooling air to the refrigerating chamber by operating thefirst fan and flowing refrigerant through the second flow path andproviding cooling air to the freezing chamber by operating the secondfan and flowing refrigerant through the first flow path.

Further scope of applicability of the present application will becomemore apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However,it should be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical-sectional view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a major portion of the refrigerator ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the major portion of the refrigerator of FIG:3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the major portion of the refrigerator ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a partial section of a barrier walltaken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an evaporator area of the refrigerator of FIG.2;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a guide member of the refrigerator of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of the guide member of therefrigerator of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 illustrates the configuration of a refrigerating system of therefrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 illustrates a modification of a switching valve of therefrigeration cycle of FIGS. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A refrigerator according to exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical-sectional viewof the refrigerator of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a majorportion of the refrigerator of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a front view of themajor portion of the refrigerator of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspectiveview of the major portion of the refrigerator of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is aperspective view showing a partial section of a barrier wall taken alongline VI-VI of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of an evaporator area ofthe refrigerator of FIG. 2;

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the refrigerator according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention includes a refrigerator body 110including first and second cooling chambers 150 and 160 partitioned upand down by a horizontally disposed barrier wall 120, an evaporator 250disposed at an inner side of the barrier wall 120, a first cooling fan210 disposed at one side of the evaporator 250 to blow cooling air tothe first cooling chamber 150, and a second cooling fan 220 disposed atanother side of the evaporator 250 to blow cooling air to the secondcooling chamber 160.

In this exemplary embodiment, one of the first and second coolingchambers 150 and 160 may be configured as a refrigerating chamber andthe other may be configured as a freezing chamber. Alternatively, thefirst and second cooling chambers 150 and 160 may both be configured asfreezing chambers or refrigerating chambers. For purposes ofdescription, and not intended to be limiting, the first cooling chamber150 is configured as a refrigerating chamber and the second coolingchamber 160 is configured as a freezing chamber.

The barrier wall 120 may be horizontally positioned at the interior ofthe refrigerator body 110 in order to partition the internal space intothe first and second cooling chambers 150 and 160. The refrigeratingchamber 150 may be formed at an upper side of the barrier wall 120 andthe freezing chamber 160 may be formed at a lower side of the barrierwall 120.

The refrigerator body 110 may include an outer case 111 a forming anexternal appearance, an inner case 111 b separately disposed at an innerside of the outer case 111 a, and an insulation material 111 c chargedbetween the outer case 111 a and the inner case 111 b.

A mechanical chamber 170 may be formed at a lower region of a rear sideof the refrigerator body 110. A refrigerating system may be provided inthe refrigerator body 110 in order to supply cooling air to the interiorof the freezing chamber 160 and the refrigerating chamber 150. Therefrigerating system may be configured as a vapor compression typerefrigerating system in which a refrigerant is compressed, condensed,expanded and evaporated while being circulated. The vapor compressiontype refrigerating system will be described later.

The refrigerating chamber 150 may have a pair of refrigerating chamberdoors 155. The freezing chamber 160 may have a freezing chamber door 165to open and close the freezing chamber 160. The refrigerating chamberdoors 155 may be configured to be rotated by using both sides of therefrigerating chamber 150 as a rotation shaft. The freezing chamber door165 may be configured as a drawer-type door that slides in aninward/outward direction.

One of the refrigerating chamber doors 155 may have an ice makingchamber 180. The ice making chamber 180 may include an ice maker (notshown) for making ice upon receiving water from the exterior. An icebank (not shown) for keeping ice made in storage may be provided at alower side of the ice maker.

At least one side wall cooling air duct 190 may be provided at one sideof the refrigerating chamber 150 to provide cooling air to the icemaking chamber 180. In this exemplary embodiment, a pair of side wallcooling air ducts 190 may be formed. One of the side wall cooling airducts 190 may form a cooling air supply flow path while the other mayform a cooling air return flow path along which cooling air which haspassed through the ice making chamber 180 returns.

The evaporator 250 may be provided within the barrier wall 120.Accordingly, because the evaporator 250, which is at a low temperaturecompared with cooling air in the freezing chamber 160, is not installedat the rear wall, the actual internal usage space of the freezingchamber 160 and/or refrigerating chambers 150 can be increased withoutincreasing the size of the external appearance of the refrigerator mainbody 110. In addition, a leakage of cooling air of the evaporator 250 tooutside through the rear wall can be reduced. In addition, in order toprevent a leakage of cooling air formed by the evaporator 250, thethickness of the rear wall, which is formed to be relatively thick, canbe somewhat reduced. Accordingly, the size of the internal usage spaceof the freezing chamber 160 and/or the refrigerating chamber 150 can beincreased as much.

The evaporator 250 may include a heat pipe 251 in which the refrigerantflows, and a plurality of heat transfer plates 255 coupled with the heatpipe 251. The heat pipe 251 may be configured to be disposed in a row onthe same plane. The heat pipe 251 may include straight pipe partsdisposed along a left/right direction of the barrier wall 120 and aconnection pipe part connecting the straight pipe parts.

As shown in FIG. 7, the heat transfer plate 255 may be coupled to thestraight pipe part at certain pitches. A pitch P1 of the heat transferplate 255 disposed at the first and second suction openings side may belarger than a pitch (P2) of the heat transfer plate 255 disposed at thefirst and second cooling fans 210 and 220. Accordingly, air from therefrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160 having arelatively high humidity is introduced to be first frosted, so an airflow resistance of the upper stream heat pipe 251 and the heat transferplate 255 having a large amount of frost can be reduced.

An evaporator accommodating part 122 may be formed at the inner side ofthe barrier wall 120 in order to accommodate the evaporator 250. Theevaporator accommodating part 122 (FIG. 3) may be formed to have anopening at an upper portion thereof. An evaporator cover 125 (FIG. 5)may be provided at an upper side of the evaporator 250 in order to closethe upper opening of the evaporator accommodating part 122. A dischargehole may be formed at a central region of a rear side of an uppersurface of the barrier wall 120. A defrosting heater (not shown) may beprovided at one portion (e.g., at a lower portion) of the evaporator 250to defrost the evaporator 250.

A lower surface of the evaporator accommodating part 122 may be formedto slope downward toward the rear of the refrigerator. Accordingly, theevaporator 250 may be accommodated such that it is slopes downwardlytoward the rear of the refrigerator. The lower surface of the evaporatoraccommodating part 122 and the evaporator 250 may be disposed to have aslope of about 4 to 6 degrees from horizontal. Accordingly, when theevaporator 250 is defrosted, defrost water can flow smoothly toward therear of the refrigerator.

First and second suction openings 131 and 132 may be formed at a frontportion of the barrier wall 120 in order to suck cooling air from therefrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160. The firstsuction opening 131 may be formed on an upper surface of the barrierwall 120 and the second suction opening 132 may be formed on a lowersurface of the barrier wall.

In particular, the first suction opening 131 may be formed at theevaporator cover 125 in a penetrating manner. A plurality of firstsuction openings 131 may also be formed. The first suction openings 131may be separated along a horizontal direction of the barrier wall 120.Accordingly, air of the refrigerating chamber 150 can be sucked to bothregions of the evaporator 250 to undergo a heat-exchange process. Inthis exemplary embodiment, the first suction openings 131 may be formedin a rectangular shape. The first suction opening 131 may be formed suchthat its width is larger than its length. Accordingly, air of therefrigerating chamber 150 and a contact area (heat exchange area) of theevaporator 250 can be reduced, and the suction amount of air of therefrigerating chamber 150 can be increased. Accordingly, because a largequantity of cooling air at a relatively low temperature is supplied tothe refrigerating chamber 150, a particular portion can be preventedfrom being overcooled and a temperature deviation in the refrigeratingchamber 150 can be quickly resolved.

The second suction opening 132 may be formed at a central region of thebarrier wall 120. Accordingly, air of the freezing chamber 160 can besucked to the central region of the evaporator 250 so as to beheat-exchanged over a relatively wide area.

The second suction opening 132 may have a stripe shape such that itslength is longer than its width. Accordingly, air of the freezingchamber 160 and a contact area (heat exchange area) of the evaporator250 can be increased and the suction amount of air of the freezingchamber 160 can be properly maintained. Because air of the freezingchamber 160 is heat-exchanged with the evaporator 250 over a largerarea, the freezing chamber 160 can be cooled more quickly at a lowertemperature.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a refrigerating cooling air duct 152 may beprovided at a rear side of the refrigerating chamber 150 in order tosupply cooling air to the refrigerating chamber 150. Here, therefrigerating cooling air duct 152 may be formed to be thin and long.The refrigerating cooling air duct 152 may have a length correspondingto the height of the refrigerating chamber 150 and a width larger than ahalf of the width of the refrigerating chamber 150. Accordingly, thethickness of the refrigerating cooling air duct 152 can be reduced toincrease the actual usage space of the refrigerating chamber 150. Aplurality Of cooling air discharge holes 153 may be formed at upper,central, and lower regions of the refrigerating cooling air duct 152 inorder to discharge cooling air.

The first cooling fan 210 may be located at a lower region of therefrigerating cooling air duct 152. A first cooling fan accommodatingpart 157 may be formed at a lower region of the refrigerating coolingair duct. 152 in order to accommodate the first cooling fan 210. In thisexemplary embodiment, the first cooling fan 210 may he configured as acentrifugal fan that sucks cooling air in an axial line direction anddischarge it in a radial direction. The first cooling fan 210 may bedisposed such that its suction opening points to the front side and itsdischarge hole points to the upper side. A duct suction opening 158 maybe formed at one side of the first cooling fan accommodating part 157such that it is open at its lower side in order to communicate with adischarge hole 127 of the barrier wall 120. The first cooling fanaccommodating part 157 may be formed to be thick so as to be protrudedforwardly compared with peripheral part (upper part) in order to securea space of the suction opening to suck cooling air by the first coolingfan 210.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, an ice making fan 230 may be provided at thebarrier wall 120 to provide cooling air to the ice making chamber 180.The ice making fan 230 may be configured as a centrifugal fan that sucksair in an axial direction and discharges it in a radial direction.Accordingly, because the axial directional length of the ice making fan230 is reduced, the ice making fan 230 can be easily accommodated withinthe barrier wall 120 without increasing the thickness of the barrierwall 120. Thus, the ice making fan 230 does not protrude toward thefreezing chamber 160 or toward the refrigerating chamber 150, and thus,the actual usage space of the freezing chamber 160 or the refrigeratingchamber 150 can be increased.

The ice making fan 230 may be disposed such that its suction openingpoints toward a lower side and its discharge hole points toward ahorizontal direction. An ice making fan accommodating part 141 may beprovided at the barrier wall 120 in order to accommodate the ice makingfan 230. The barrier wall 120 may include a cooling air flow path 142formed to communicate with the ice making fan accommodating part 141 inorder to allow cooling air discharged from the ice making fan 230 toflow therealong. A discharge hole 143 may be formed at one side of thecooling air flow path 142 to allow cooling air which has passed throughthe ice making chamber 180 to return so as to be discharged to thefreezing chamber 160. Each lower end of the side wall cooling air duct190 may be connected to one side (the left side on the drawing) of thebarrier wall 120. With this configuration, the ice making fan 230 suckscooling air which has passed through the evaporator 250 and dischargesit to the cooling air flow path 142, and the cooling air is supplied tothe ice making chamber 180 along the side wall cooling air duct 190connected to the cooling air flow path 140. The cooling air supplied tothe ice making chamber 180 performs ice making operation, downwardlyflows along the side wall cooling air duct 190, passes through thebarrier wall 120, and is then discharged to the freezing chamber 160.

A second cooling fan 220 may be provided at a rear side of the freezingchamber 160 in order to blow the cooling air which has passed throughthe evaporator 250 toward the freezing chamber 160. The second coolingfan 220 may be configured as a centrifugal fan that sucks air in theaxial direction and discharges it in the radial direction. The secondcooling fan 220 may be configured such that one side thereof sucks airand the other side discharges it in the same direction as the airsuction direction. In this exemplary embodiment; as shown in FIG. 2, thesecond cooling fan 220 may be disposed at a front side of the firstcooling fan 210. Thus, air at a lower temperature is restrained frombeing leaked outside the refrigerator through the rear wall.

A guide member 270 may be provided near the second cooling fan 220 inorder to guide flowing of the cooling air which has passed through theevaporator 250. The guide member 270 is disposed at an upper portion ofa rear side of the freezing chamber 160, demarcating the internal space.Namely, the guide member 270 demarcates the internal space into anevaporator 250 side space in which cooling air is formed and a foodstorage space (substantially, the freezing chamber) in which food itemsare actually accommodated).

FIG. 8 is a front view of a guide member of the refrigerator of FIG. 2,and FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of the guide member of therefrigerator of FIG. 8.

With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the guide member 270 may include anupper plate part 271 and a fan accommodating part 281. The upper platepart 271 is formed to have a length corresponding to a horizontal widthof the barrier wall 120, and may be connected with a lower surface ofthe rear side of the barrier wall 120. The fan accommodating part 281may have a horizontal width smaller than that of the upper plate part271 and may extend from the center of the upper plate part 271downwardly. A cooling air discharge hole 283 is penetratingly formed inthe fan accommodating part 281 in order to allow cooling air blown bythe second cooling fan 220 to be discharged.

A defrost water guide flow path may be formed within the guide member270 in order to guide defrost water flowing after generated as theevaporator 250 is defrosted. The guide member 270 may be defined as aflow path formation member in the aspect that it includes the coolingair flow path and the defrost water guide flow path.

The upper plate part 271 may be formed to slope to allow defrost waterto be collected. The upper plate part 271 may include a first slopeportion 272 a and a second slope portion 272 b to allow defrost water tobe collected to one side of the fan accommodating part 281 and flow. Thefirst slope portion 272 a and the second slope portion 272 b are formedto slope downwardly to the rear side, and may be formed to slope towardeach other so that the lowermost point is formed to which defrost wateris met at the boundary region of the first slope portion 272 a and thesecond slope portion 272 b. The defrost water joined at the lowermostpoint of the first slope portion 272 a and the second slope portion 272b flows downwardly along one side wall.

A flange 273 may be formed at both end portions of the upper plate part272 along a lengthwise direction such that it is in contact with thelower surface of the barrier wall 120. Insertion holes 275 may bepenetratingly formed on the flange 273 to allow a fastening member (notshown) such as a screw to be inserted thereinto so as to be fastenedwith the lower surface of the barrier wall 120.

An overflow preventing rib 285 may be formed at a rear side of the upperplate part 271 and the fan accommodating part 281 to prevent thecollected defrost water from overflowing. The overflow preventing rib285 is formed to a predetermined height so as to prevent defrost waterfrom overflowing. The overflow preventing rib 285 formed at the upperplate part 271 may extend to a boundary region of the second slopeportion 272 b by way of the upper region of the fan accommodating part281 along the rear edge portions of the first slope portion 272 a.Accordingly, defrost water flowing along the first slope portion 272 acan flow to one region of the fan accommodating part 281, bypassing thefront side, to drop, rather than dropping to the cooling air dischargehole 283 of the front side of the fan accommodating part 281 from theupper region of the fan accommodating part 281. Thus, defrost water canbe restrained from dropping to the cooling air discharge hole 283. Thus,when an air cooling operation is resumed, because defrost does not flowto the front side of the fan accommodating part 281, defrost water canbe prevented from being frozen to shut the cooling air discharge hole283 and thus degradation of discharging of cooling air can be prevented.

A drain unit 287 may be formed at the lower portion of the fanaccommodating part 281 in order to discharge defrost water. The lowersurface of the fan accommodating part 281 may be formed to have a slopeto allow defrost water to be collected at the drain unit 287. Adrainpipe (not shown) may be connected to the drain unit 287. Thedrainpipe may be drawn out to the mechanic chamber 170 formed at thelower portion of the rear side of the main body 110.

FIG. 10 illustrates the configuration of a refrigerating system of therefrigerator of FIG. 1, and FIG. 11 illustrates a modification of aswitching valve of the refrigeration cycle of FIG. 10.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the refrigerator may include arefrigerating system 240 for supplying cooling air to the freezingchamber 160 and the refrigerating chamber 150. The refrigerating system240 may include a compressor 241 for compressing a refrigerant, acondenser 243 for condensing the refrigerant by releasing heat of therefrigerant, an expansion device 247 for depressurizing and expandingthe refrigerant, and an evaporator 250 for allowing the refrigerant toabsorb ambient latent heat so as to be evaporated.

The compressor 241, the condenser 243, and the expansion device 247 maybe disposed in the mechanic chamber 170, and the evaporator 250 may bedisposed in the barrier wall 120.

A blow fan 245 for blowing air may be provided at one side of thecondenser 243 in order to accelerate heat release of the condenser 243.First and second cooling fans 210 and 220 may be provided at one side ofthe evaporator 250 in order to provide cooling air which has passedthrough the evaporator 250 to the refrigerating chamber 150 and thefreezing chamber 160. An ice making fan 230 may be provided at the sameside of the evaporator 250 or at a different side. It is also understoodthat the first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 may be provided atthe same side or at different sides.

First and second branch flow paths 261 and 262 may be formed at arefrigerant entrance side of the evaporator 250. A valve assembly 265may be provided at an end portion of each entrance of the first andsecond branch flow paths 261 and 262 in order to selectively open andclose them. In this exemplary embodiment, the valve assembly 265 may beconfigured as a flow path valve to allow the refrigerant moved from thecondenser 243 to move to the evaporator 250 through the first branchflow path 261 or through the second branch flow path 262. Alternatively,the valve assembly 265 may be configured to allow the refrigerant tomove through one of the first and second branch flow paths 261 and 262or to move through both of the first and second branch flow paths 261and 262.

In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the valve assembly265 may include a first switching valve 266 disposed at the first branchflow path 261 to open and close the first branch flow path 261, and asecond switching valve 267 disposed at the second branch flow path 262to open and close the second branch flow path 262. The first and secondswitching valves 266 and 267 may be configured to be operated (driven)by electric force.

The expansion device 247 may be provided at the first and second branchflow paths 261 and 262. The expansion device 247 may include a firstcapillary tube 248 provided at the first branch flow path 261 and asecond capillary tube 249 provided at the second branch flow path 262.In these exemplary embodiments, the first and second capillary tubes 248and 249 may be formed to have a different diameter (inner diameter)and/or length. For example, the inner diameter of the first capillarytube 248 may be larger than that of the second capillary tube 249. Inaddition, the first capillary tube 248 may be longer than the secondcapillary tube 249. Accordingly, as the inner diameter of each of thecapillary tubes 248 and 249 increases, a flow amount increases, and asthe length of each of the capillary tubes 248 and 249 increases, thetemperature of the refrigerant may go down. As a result, the innerdiameter and length of the first and second capillary tubes 248 and 249may be properly adjusted depending on the desired results. In thepresent exemplary embodiment, the first capillary tube 248 has a largerflow amount (diameter) of refrigerant compared with the second capillarytube 249, and is formed to have a larger length to make the temperatureof the refrigerant lower.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 12, the refrigerator may include a controller 290implemented as a microprocessor or the like including a control program.A freezing chamber temperature sensor 291 and a refrigerating chambertemperature sensor 292 for detecting the temperature of therefrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160, respectively,may be connected to the controller 290 to receive a detect signal. Inaddition, the controller 290 may be connected with the first and secondcooling fans 210 and 220 to control them so that cooling air can beprovided to the refrigerating chamber 150 and/or the freezing chamber160 according to detected temperature conditions of the refrigeratingchamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160. Also, the valve assembly 265,which may be a single flow path valve or the first and second switchingvalves 266 and 267, can be connected with the controller 290 so as to becontrolled in order to adjust conditions of the refrigerant (the flowamount of the refrigerant and/or the temperature of the refrigerant)introduced to the evaporator 250 according to the operation of therefrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160.

With such a configuration, when cooling air is to be supplied to therefrigerating chamber 150 based on the detection results of therefrigerating chamber temperature sensor 291, the controller 290 cancontrol the first cooling fan 210 to be rotated. When the first coolingfan 210 is rotated, air of the refrigerating chamber 150 is sucked tothe interior of the barrier wall 120 through the first suction opening131, and the sucked air is heat-exchanged to be cooled while passingthrough the evaporator 250. The cooled air is introduced to therefrigerating cooling air duct 152 by way of (sucked and discharged) thefirst cooling fan 210.

The cooling air that has been introduced into the refrigerating coolingair duct 152 is discharged to the interior of the refrigerating chamber150 through each cooling air discharge hole 153. In this case, thecontroller 290 may control the valve assembly 265 to allow therefrigerant to flow along the second branch flow path 262. Namely,passing through the condenser 243, the refrigerant is introduced intothe second branch flow path 262 through the valve assembly 265, and thendepressurized and expanded through the second capillary tube 249. Therefrigerant, which has been depressurized and expanded through thesecond capillary tube 249, is introduced into the evaporator 250 andthen absorbs heat from air sucked through the first suction opening 131so as to be evaporated. The evaporated refrigerant is sucked again intothe compressor 241, in which it is compressed and discharged repeatedlyto perform a cooling operation.

When cooling air is to be supplied to the freezing chamber 160 based onthe detection results of the freezing chamber temperature sensor 292,the controller 290 may control the second cooling fan 220 to be rotated.When the second cooling fan 220 is rotated, air of the freezing chamber160 is sucked to the interior of the barrier wall 120 through the secondsuction opening 132. The air that has been sucked into the barrier wall120 is cooled while passing through the evaporator 250, and sucked bythe second cooling fan 220 so as to be discharged to the interior of thefreezing chamber 160. At. this time, the controller 290 may control thevalve assembly 265 to allow the refrigerant to flow along the firstbranch flow path 261.

The refrigerant, which has been condensed while passing through thecondenser 243, flows to the first branch flow path 261 through the valveassembly 265. Then the refrigerant is depressurized and expanded whilepassing through the first capillary tube 248. In this case, because thefirst capillary tube 248 has a larger inner diameter and is longer thanthe second capillary tube 249, a larger flow amount of refrigerant at alower temperature can be introduced to the evaporator 250. Introducedinto the evaporator 250, the refrigerant absorbs heat from air suckedthrough the second suction opening 132 so as to be evaporated, and theevaporated refrigerant is sucked into the compressor 241, in which it isrepeatedly compressed and discharged to perform a cooling operation.

When cooling air is intended to be supplied to both the refrigeratingchamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160 based on the temperaturedetection results of the refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 291and the freezing chamber temperature sensor 292, the controller 290 maycontrol the first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 to be rotatedsimultaneously. When the first and second cooling fans 210 and 220 arerotated, air in the refrigerating chamber 150 is sucked into the barrierwall 120 through the first suction opening 131 and air in the freezingchamber 160 is sucked into the barrier wall 120 through the secondsuction opening 132.

Sucked into the barrier wall 120, the air is brought into contact withthe evaporator 250 so as to be cooled, and then discharged to therefrigerating chamber 150 and the freezing chamber 160 by the first andsecond cooling fans 210 and 220, respectively. In this case, thecontroller 290 may control the valve assembly 265 to allow therefrigerant, which has passed through the condenser 243, to flow to boththe first and second branch flow paths 261 and 262. Accordingly, therefrigerant, which has passed through the condenser 243, isdepressurized and expanded while passing through first and secondcapillary tubes 248 and 249, and then introduced into the evaporator250. Accordingly, a larger amount of cooling air can be formed tosufficiently cool both the freezing chamber 160 and the refrigeratingchamber 150. Thus, a temperature deviation of the refrigerating chamber150 and the freezing chamber 160 can be quickly resolved.

When cooling air is to be supplied to the ice making chamber 180, thecontroller 290 may control the ice making fan to be rotated. When theice making fan 230 is rotated, air that has been cooled while passingthrough the evaporator 250 is sucked into the ice making fan 230 andthen discharged to the cooling air flow path 142. In this case, thecontroller 290 may control the valve assembly 265 to allow therefrigerant, which has passed through the condenser 243 to flow to boththe first and second branch flow paths 261 and 262. Accordingly, therefrigerant, which has passed through the condenser 243, isdepressurized and expanded while passing through first and secondcapillary tubes 248 and 249, and then introduced into the evaporator250. As a result, a larger amount of cooling air can be formed to beprovided to the ice making chamber. It should be understood that,depending on the amount of cooling air needed by the ice making chamber,the controller 290 may control the valve assembly 265 to allowrefrigerant, which has passed through the condenser 243, to flow to thefirst branch flow path 261.

The cooling air discharged to the cooling air flow path 142 flowsupwardly along the side wall cooling air duct 190 and is then introducedinto the ice making chamber 180, whereby the cooling air cools the icemaking chamber 180 and then flows downwardly through the side wallcooling air duct 190. Flowing down along the side wall cooling air duct190, the cooling air passes through the discharge hole 143 penetratinglyformed at the barrier wall 120, and is then discharged to the freezingchamber 160.

Meanwhile, after a certain time lapses, a defrosting operation may beperformed to remove frost formed on the surface of the evaporator 250.During the defrosting operation, the controller 290 may control thefirst and second cooling fans 210 and 220 to be stopped. When power isapplied to a defrosting heater (not shown), it heats to remove the frostformed on the surface of the evaporator 250. In this case, defrost watergenerated as the frost is melt flows to the rear side along the lowersurface of the evaporator accommodating part 122. After flowing to therear side, the defrost water is collected by the upper plate part 271 ofthe guide member 270, moves along the overflow preventing rib 284 of theupper plate part 271, drops from the lowermost point, namely, theconfluence, and is downwardly moved to the lower side of the fanaccommodating part 281. Moved to lower side of the fan accommodatingpart 281, the defrost water is exhausted to the mechanic chamber 170through the drain unit 287 and the drainpipe.

As so far described, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, because the evaporator having a very low temperature comparedwith cooling air in the cooling chamber is disposed within the barrierwail, the thickness of the rear wall due to an otherwise disposition ofthe evaporator can be reduced. Thus, the internal usage space, namely, afood item receiving space, can be increased without increasing theexternal appearance (size) of the refrigerator body.

In addition, because the evaporator can be disposed within the barrierwall, a leakage of cooling air can be prevented, and because cooling airis directly transferred to the cooling chamber, an increase in thetemperature of the cooling chamber can be restrained. Accordingly, acooling operation period of the cooling chamber can be lengthened.

Also, because the evaporator can be disposed within the barrier wall andthe first and second cooling fans for blowing cooling air to eachcooling chamber are provided at one side of the evaporator, the internalusage space can be increased without increasing the external appearance.Because each cooling chamber can be simultaneously or independentlycooled, the operation efficiency can be improved. In addition, thecooling air supply flow path for supplying cooling air to each coolingchamber is shortened to simplify the configuration and reduce a loss ofcooling air flow. Thus, a temperature deviation of each cooling chambercan be resolved more quickly.

Moreover, because the first and second branch flow paths are formed atthe refrigerant entrance of the evaporator and the first and secondcapillary tubes can be provided at the first and second branch flowpaths, respectively, the cooling capability (freezing capability) of theevaporator can be varied according to each cooling chamber to whichcooling air is to be supplied. Thus, generation and supply of coolingair can be properly adjusted according to each load amount of therespective cooling chambers, namely, the freezing chamber and therefrigerating chamber, improving the operation efficiency.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understoodthat the above-described embodiments arc not limited by any of thedetails of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, butrather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in theappended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fallwithin the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metesand bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

The invention thus being described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator bodyincluding a first cooling chamber and a second cooling chamber; abarrier wall located between the first cooling chamber and the secondcooling chamber; an evaporator configured to provide cooling air; afirst cooling fan configured to provide cooling air of the evaporator tothe first cooling chamber; and a second cooling fan configured toprovide cooling air of the evaporator to the second cooling chamber. 2.The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the barrier wall is substantiallyhorizontal.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the evaporator islocated in the barrier wall.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein therefrigerator includes a door located at a front of the refrigerator foropening and closing one of the first cooling chamber and the secondcooling chamber, and wherein the evaporator is disposed to be slopeddownwardly from the front of the refrigerator to a rear of therefrigerator.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein a portion of thebarrier wall disposed at an upper side of the evaporator graduallyincreases in thickness from the front to the rear.
 6. The refrigeratorof claim 1, wherein a first cooling air suction opening is formed at anupper surface of the barrier wall and a second cooling air suctionopening is formed at a lower surface of the barrier wall.
 7. Therefrigerator of claim 1, wherein the evaporator is disposed to be slopeddownwardly from a front of the refrigerator to a rear of therefrigerator.
 8. The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising: aguide member disposed in the second cooling chamber, the guide memberbeing configured to guide an air flow.
 9. The refrigerator of claim 8,wherein the guide member includes a defrost water flow path configuredto guide defrost water to flow away from the barrier wall.
 10. Therefrigerator of claim 9, wherein a drain unit is located at a lowerportion of the guide member.
 11. The refrigerator of claim 1, whereinthe first cooling chamber is a refrigerating chamber and the secondcooling chamber is a freezing chamber.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 11,further comprising: a door for opening and closing the refrigeratingchamber; an ice making chamber formed at the door of the refrigeratingchamber; a side wall cooling air duct to guide cooling air generated inthe evaporator to the ice making chamber; and an ice making fan to blowcooling air to the side wall cooling air duct.
 13. The refrigerator ofclaim 12, wherein the ice making fan is disposed within the barrierwall.
 14. The refrigerator of claim 1, further, comprising: a door foropening and closing the first cooling chamber; an ice making chamberformed at a door of the first cooling chamber; a side wall cooling airduct for guiding cooling air generated in the evaporator to the icemaking chamber; and an ice making fan for blowing cooling air to theside wall cooling air duct.
 15. The refrigerator of claim 1, furthercomprising: first and second branch flow paths formed at a refrigerantentrance of the evaporator; and first and second expansion devicesdisposed at the first and second branch flow paths, respectively. 16.The refrigerator of claim 15, wherein the first and second expansiondevices are first and second capillary tubes, respectively.
 17. Therefrigerator of claim 16, wherein a diameter of the first capillary tubeis larger than a diameter of the second capillary tube.
 18. Therefrigerator of claim 15, further comprising a valve assembly forselectively opening and closing one of the first branch flow path, thesecond branch flow path, and both first and second branch flow paths.19. The refrigerator of claim 18, wherein the valve assembly includes: afirst valve disposed at the first branch flow path; and a second valvedisposed at the second branch flow path.
 20. The refrigerator of claim18, wherein the valve assembly includes a flow path switching valvedisposed at an upper stream side of the first and second branch flowpaths to selectively control flow to one of the first branch flow path,the second branch flow path, and both first and second branch flowpaths.
 21. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the evaporator is theonly evaporator providing cooling air to the first and second coolingchambers.
 22. A method of providing cooling air flow in a refrigerator,the refrigerator having a body defining a refrigerating chamber and afreezing chamber, an evaporator configured to provide cooling air, afirst fan configured to provide cooling air of the evaporator to therefrigerating chamber, a second fan configured to provide cooling air ofthe evaporator to the freezing chamber, a first refrigerant flow path toprovide refrigerant to the evaporator, and a second refrigerant flowpath to provide refrigerant to the evaporator, the method comprising:providing cooling air to the refrigerating chamber by operating thefirst fan and flowing refrigerant through the second flow path; andproviding cooling air to the freezing chamber by operating the secondfan and flowing refrigerant through the first flow path.
 23. The methodof claim 22, where providing cooling air to the refrigerating chamberand providing cooling air to the freezing chamber occur simultaneously.24. The method of claim 22, wherein the refrigerator further includes anice making chamber and a third fan configured to provide cooling air ofthe evaporator to the ice making chamber, the method comprising:providing cooling air to the ice making chamber by operating the thirdfan and flowing refrigerant through both the first and second flowpaths.